The Path of Ascention
by PandoraMN
Summary: When Lillian was a young girl a white beast had saved her. As her house burned around her it dragged her and her family from the flames. Now she travels to Ilex Forest, to find the pokémon that had saved her all those years ago.


The world of Pokémon is a strange, magical and dangerous place. Every day humans must find a way to coexist with powerful supernatural monsters. Long ago Humans found a way to capture and tame these beasts. Forcing or convincing them to fight alongside us, still the threat remains. Every day rampaging Pokémon cause property damage and the deaths of innocents. Due to necessity many teens are forced to drop out of high-school. To train the captured Pokémon so that they can join the ranks of, at best, trainers who only want to protect the towns, cities and routes they love. Or at worse, join the ranks of mercenaries who only protect locations that can afford their services.

Despite these hardships humanity marches on. Inventing tools like the Pokéball. A hand held device designed to assist in the capture of Pokémon. The Pokéball also enacts a low-level mind control. Forcing the Pokémon over time to begin trusting his or her trainer. Weapons which come in all forms. From simple firearms to devices that replicate the magical powers all Pokémon share. Machines: From robots designed to do heavy construction and mining. To machines built to forcibly alter Pokémon.

While many Pokémon are walking terrors. Capable of eating mountains, destroying cities or causing massive earthquakes, droughts or tidal waves. Some are harmless. Whether due to just being to small and weak to be much more than idle pets or annoyances. Others have been bred and domesticated for so long that they coexist peacefully. Whether that means they have been bred to be of assistance to starting trainers. Powerhouses that can be reliably trusted. Or grown for food or other uses. While a rare few are intelligent and benevolent enough to have dedicated their lives to the protection of all life.

* * *

A lone woman climbs slowly up the side of a hill. Just over the top she can see the edge of the forest that is her destination. She stops to catch her breath. Turning around to see the full distance she has travelled. Patchwork farmland stretches out before her. Her walk down the long road, formally known as Route 34, has taken three full days. She covers her eyes with her hand. Looking over the land. Admiring the progress she has made. As well as the beautiful farmland.

A few of the farms have small groups of milktank roaming through open patches of grass. Each one hard to tell apart from the next. Their mostly pink skin has patches of black on their backs. In a variety of different patterns marking them from one of each other. Farmers lead groups of growleth and herdier. The doglike pokémon run around the miltanks in wide circles. To keep the cow pokémon from wandering too far. While other farmhands go around with shovels and hoes. Flattening out the ridges that are created when the miltank charge.

Other farms hve fields of mareep. Workers sheet the sheep pokémon while wearing bright yellow insulted gloves. Protecting themselves from the shocks the mareep's wool let off. Small buildings filled with farfetch'd dot the landscape. Each one paired up with a small greenhouse. Where the leeks that the birds cherish are grown. The eggs that the farfetch'd produced will be gathered by the farmers after the birds have fallen asleep. Some will be hatched for new birds. But most will be shipped into the city.

The majority of the land is covered in green fields. Each field is filled with small bundles of long green leaves. Each bundle hides a sleeping oddish. At night they will all come out of the ground. Run around and sew their own seeds into the soil they sleep in during the day. So long as the farmers keep the soil well tilled. The tiny plants will not stray. A rare few will evolve into gloom. Which will quickly be removed from the others. Lest their smell ruin the taste of the other oddish. The gloom will be shipped off to special farms. To be grown and cultivated for the sap that drips from their mouths. Which will be turned into perfumes. Most of the Oddish will not grow to that age however. They will be harvested long before they grow to the age required to evolve.

Her eyes turn to the river. It flows up and around the great golden city in the distance. That river was originally what kept the town down. Magikarp swim up river in the thousands. Every few years that one lucky fish would evolve. Turning into a massive Gyarados that would ravage the town. Eventually a plan was devised. Three great nets that span the entirety of the river. The first net catches the biggest Magikarp. While the next two nets catch progressively smaller Magikarp. The system provides the town with a great source of food. As well as keeps the fish Pokemon that are most likely to evolve away from the town. But the net-holes never get so small as to keep the pokemon from their spawning pools. From where she stands she can just barely see the smallest net. So far from the town. The top of the net comes out of the water and curves over. Preventing the smarter Magikarp from simply jumping over it. However, as she watches a few try. Their brilliant red scales glinting in the sun. A few men man the nets. They constantly watch to make sure that the nets stay intact. Their Pokemon leap in and out of the water. Gathering some of the captured Magikarp. She can make out a Quagsire and Crawdaunt dragging some of the captured fish out of the water.

The girl smiles too herself. Satisfied with the distance she has come. She goes back to climbing the hill. Quickly coming over the top. Letting her see the forest for the first time. The forest is known as Ilex Forest. Already she can see how it got that title. The forest just starts abruptly. The green grass and road coming to a solid line. With the brown forest floor and dense trees just starting beyond that. The road looks like it got to that line and then was cut off. No paths go into the forest. She's heard rumors that any change made to the forest. Like if someone goes in and cuts down a tree. Or continued the road. The change would be reversed at midnight. A new tree would be in the place of the old one. The road would just be gone. She's heard that on the eastern edge of this holy place. A town has begun to flourished. Entirely based on a lumber industry that can never die. They simply cut down the same trees endlessly. Creating charcoal and lumber. Enough to supply the world.


End file.
